'La La Land' a Surprise Hit at Chinese Box Office

American movie musical La La Land is a surprise hit in China, opening to RMB87 million (US12.7 million) on Valentine’s Day.

Although it lost out to the Vin Diesel sequel xXx: Return of Xander Cage, the film proved more popular than two Chinese romantic titles that opened the same day.

The success of La La Land is due in part to the film’s sweep at the Golden Globes, where it won a record seven awards. Typically, movie musicals do not do well in the Chinese market, as many moviegoers are baffled by the characters’ proclivity for spontaneous song and dance.

According to ticket platform miaoyan.com, the opening-day audience was 63 percent female and 42 percent between the ages of 20 and 24.

“Crowds will keep coming to watch the film after Valentine’s Day,” predicts Zhang Jin, chief executive of Joy Pictures Inc., the company that bought the rights to distribute the film in China.

To date, La La Land has grossed more than RMB2 billion (US293 million) worldwide.